Debt Consolidation Facts

1. If you spend more than 50% of your credit limit every month, this indicates to the Credit Bureau that you do NOT have enough cash on hand to meet your monthly expenses. This will identify you as a high credit risk and will actually reduce your credit score by 60 - 70 points overnight (Fair
Isaac).

2. If you miss 1 or 2 payments on your credit card debt, the issuing company will skyrocket your interest rate to a whopping 27% -
30%!

3. Out of a random sample of 3 million American consumers (included in Experian's National Score Index), 51% of them have at least 2 credit cards and 14% of them have 10 or more credit cards.

Statute of Limitations Laws for Debt Collection Agencies in Pennsylvania

-> Considered as Civil Penalty
-> 3 times the value of the damages ($100
or more) or 3 times the value of the check,
upto $500, whichever is greater.

Wage Garnishment Exemptions:

$300, 100% of Wages + Pension Plans + Retirement
Plans

i) Open
Account: An open account is a revolving
line of credit that has varying balances over
the course of its life. Example of an open-ended
account is a credit card. For example, the statute
of limitations period that debt collectors have
to collect credit card debts owed in the state
of Alabama is 3 years.

ii) Written Contract: A written contract, as the name states,
is a loan agreement that is signed by both you and
your lender, stating the terms of the loan e.g repayment
date, applicable interest rate, any late payment
penalties, etc.

iii) Promissory
Note: A promissory note is very similar
to a written contract, the only big difference is
that the scheduled amortization of payments and
applicable interest rates is all defined within
the promissory note. A mortgage agreement is an
example of a promissory note.

iv) Domestic Judgement: A domestic judgement allows the creditor
to collect debts owed in the State where the loan
agreement (written contract) was signed. Once a
debt collection judgement is received from the court,
collectors can recover their debts from the state
where the judgement was issued or the state where
you (the person owing the debt) reside.
Example: You live in California where the
statute of limitations for Open-Ended accounts is
2 years. You have a debt collector trying to collect
his debts owed from you in the State of California
by following the statute of limitations law. If
the statute of limitations period is over, the creditor
can sue you in another related state where the actual
transaction occured. For example, if you repaired
your car in the State of Alabama, the creditor can
be granted a "Domestic Judgement" clause
in the state of Alabama allowing him to collect
debts owed by you in the State of Alabama, where
the car was actually repaired.

v) Foreign Judgement: A foreign judgement is a court issued judgement
from any state, OTHER than the state where the debtor
currently resides in. For example, if Peter who
owes $5000 debt resides in Arizona, a debt collector
can ask for a Foreign Judgement from any state OTHER
than Arizona to pursue his/her debt collection efforts.

vi) Civil Penalty: A
civil penalty is a type of fine levied against a
wrongdoer who has committed a civil crime and must
pay the state a penalty. This penalty is in the
form of monetary value ($$$). A civil penalty is
NOT a criminal punishment, it is merely a form of
compensation to the state for wrongdoing carried
out by a person. For example, if a person dumps
toxic waste in a park owned by the government, that
person could be charged a civil penalty or monetary
fine to compensate the state for cleaning up the
mess created by that toxic waste.